Year-round Less Than Year Off?

Iw's Carrsville Elementary Will Ask For Permission

January 12, 2000|By JUDITH MALVEAUX Daily Press

Year-round schooling could become part of Isle of Wight schools' lesson plan as early as next school year.

At Thursday's School Board meeting, Carrsville Elementary administrators will ask the board to seek a waiver from the General Assembly that would allow Carrsville to begin the 2000-2001 school year in August instead of after Labor Day.

Carrsville administrators have researched the idea since last school year, even holding a summer session in 1999 similar to sessions held at year- round schools during breaks.

Other schools also are considering year-round education. Assistant Superintendent Melinda Boone met with parents at Smithfield Middle School on Monday to discuss the issue. Hardy Elementary School parents will discuss it at a meeting at 7 p.m. tonight. Officials at some other schools, Boone said, have said they are not yet prepared to discuss year-round schooling.

A committee of Isle of Wight teachers, principals, administrators and parents have worked together researching other localities with year- round schools and trying to figure out what has worked and what's failed. The research will be presented at the School Board meeting on Thursday.

Through research, Boone said, school officials have found the major advantages of year-round schooling:

* Students may experience higher achievement due to shorter disruptions in instruction. Year-round school can significantly increase the quality of education. Shorter breaks means students don't forget as much material, so less has to be re- taught, Boone said.

* Teachers and students may experience less burnout because of more frequent breaks. One of the models Isle of Wight officials are considering is a school year where students attend 45 days of class and then have 15 days off. Those days would be for vacation or special sessions for enrichment or remediation.

* Year-round students seem to experience better attendance rates as well as lower dropout rates.

* Family vacations can be planned at various times of the year. Parents would be able to take advantage of off-season prices by going during one of the 15-day vacations, Boone said.

* Fewer students have to repeat grades because of the continuity of instruction and remedial reviews offered during sessions. That, Boone said, is because there is more time for students to master and understand concepts they struggle with at the time the students need the help.

With the current school year, students receive assistance during summer school. If a student is struggling in October, Boone said, they need help at that time, not months later, after they've failed.

Parent Kim Pugh said she's very supportive of year-round schools. But she said the high schools should participate as well.

Boone said Isle of Wight restructured its high school curriculum a few years ago and created block courses that lasted one semester. This gives students an opportunity to concentrate on four classes in a semester instead of six or seven. This restructuring, Boone said, has proven effective, so school officials are not planning to change it.

Pugh said she doesn't see the point in making elementary and middle schools year-round without doing the same for high schools.

"If it's so good," she said, "it should be county-wide. It's very disruptive to a family to have some children in year-round and others not."

But, Pugh said, "any improvement in educating our children is good. The sooner the better."

Margaret Keltner said she supports year-round schools but doesn't understand why some schools would be year-round while others would not. If implemented at Smithfield Middle next year, Keltner's children at Carrollton Elementary would attend school on the current schedule while her middle school kids would be going year-round. That, Keltner said, would cause problems with vacations and transportation.

"It would tear my family to pieces," Keltner said. "I'll end up having to put three or four kids in private school so they'll all be on the same schedule."

Dale Fehd said summers off and different schedules are issues that school officials must address before implementing year-round schools. But the top consideration, she said, must be the children.

"We have to keep that issue at the top of the list."

Judith Malveaux can be reached at 357-6392 or by e-mail at jmalveaux@dailypress.com